Madonna paid tribute to both the Israelis and the Palestinians when she began her Celebration World Tour at London’s O2 Arena this weekend.
Hamas mounted a brutal shock invasion of Israel from Gaza last Saturday, breaching the border by land, sea and air and slaughtering soldiers and civilians alike.
‘Citizens of Israel, we are at war,’ declared Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who retaliated by laying siege to Gaza and pummeling it with airstrikes.
The Israel Defense Forces then launched ‘localized’ raids into the Gaza Strip this Saturday, raising the specter of a full-scale ground invasion of the territory with over two million Palestinians walled in by Israel and Egypt.
Onstage in the UK that night, Madonna said: ‘There’s a lot of really crazy things happening in the world. What’s happening in Israel and Palestine breaks my heart to see children suffering, elderly suffering.’
Using her voice: Madonna paid tribute to both the Israelis and the Palestinians when she began her Celebration World Tour at London’s O2 Arena this Saturday; pictured during the concert
Message of hope: The Queen Of Pop added: ‘All of it is heartbreaking, I’m sure you agree – but even though our hearts are broken, our spirits cannot be broken’
The Queen Of Pop added: ‘All of it is heartbreaking, I’m sure you agree – but even though our hearts are broken, our spirits cannot be broken.’
Madonna’s concert came five days after she condemned last weekend’s terror attacks, which included Hamas fighters paragliding into a desert rave for peace and murdering at least 260 civilians near the Iron Wall between Israel and Gaza.
‘What is Happening in Israel is Devastating.. Watching all of these families and especially children being herded, assaulted and murdered in the streets is Heartbreaking,’ she wrote. ‘Imagine if this was happening to you??’
Madonna, who took up the Kabbalah tradition of Jewish mysticism in the 1990s, has made a pilgrimage to Israel and performed in the country multiple times, even kicking off her MDNA world tour in Tel Aviv in 2012.
As she began her new Celebration World Tour this Saturday night, she also addressed the shocking health crisis she suffered this summer, revealing onstage that she ‘didn’t think she’d make it’ after the near-death experience.
The tour was meant to begin in mid-July with a North American leg that would sweep through over 20 cities in the United States and Canada.
However that leg had to be delayed after Madonna’s health took a sudden downturn that struck terror into the hearts of her global fanbase.
She was confined to the ICU for several days after contracting what her manager announced was a ‘serious bacterial infection.’
Throwback: Madonna has performed in Israel multiple times, even kicking off her MDNA world tour at the Ramat Gan Stadium Tel Aviv in 2012 (pictured)
Retro: Madonna, who took up the Kabbalah tradition of Jewish mysticism in 1996, is pictured in concert in Tel Aviv all the way back in 1993
A report in Radar Online sensationally alleged that she suffered acute septic shock and was revived with Narcan, which is typically used to treat overdoses.
‘I didn’t think I would make it, and neither did my doctors,’ she said onstage Saturday. ‘That’s why I woke up with all of my children sitting around me.’
She emotionally shared: ‘I forgot five days of my life, or my death, I don’t really know where I was. But the angels were protecting me. And my children were there. And my children always save me, every time.’
The mother of six added: ‘If you want to know how I pulled through and how I survived, I thought, I have got to be there for my children. I have to survive for them.’
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